After going into executive session Tuesday to discuss what was described in their meeting agenda as pending litigation, the Lake Township trustees agreed to authorize the township administrator to enter into an agreement with a Toledo law firm.

The board of trustees authorized Mark Hummer, police chief/administrator, to prepare a “letter of engagement” for the law firm of Spengler & Nathanson.

Following Tuesday’s meeting, township officials declined to discuss the matter but two members of the board of trustees, Richard Welling and Melanie Bowen, did say the decision to possibly retain the law firm was based on a recommendation by Philip Dombey, township solicitor.

Welling said a lawsuit wasn’t involved in the decision to meet in executive session.

A new logo and motto will boost Genoa Chamber of Commerce efforts in the coming year.

Rebecca Booth won the logo contest and Cynthia Wise took top honors in the motto contest. Each won $250 for their entries. Chamber members and the village administration recognized the winners at the annual chamber dinner Nov. 13.

The chamber and the village sponsored the contest which collected about 50 entries, according to Village Administrator Kevin Gladden.

Genoa chamber members decided early in the year they wanted to change their look, according to board trustee Deb Angelbeck when she announced the contest in the spring on the chamber website.

At the Toneff Tae Kwon Do Studio, a recent set of promotion testing resulted in eight students receiving their black belts, while two others received their second-degree black belts. According to the studio’s founder, Pat Toneff, getting to this level takes an incredible amount of dedication.

“To test for the black belt, they have nine patterns that they have to do. To get through the patterns, it’s literally hundreds and hundreds of moves,” he said.

Tae Kwon Do is a Korean form of martial arts. It would be wrong to think that it’s about violence, though.

“(Tai Kwon Do) is the Korean art of self-defense. We do spar and have some good fighter, but we’re not a fight club. The whole attitude is so important,” said Toneff.

For Toneff, that attitude surrounding Tae Kwon Do is just important as the physical aspect.

Once a second wave of demolitions by the Lucas County Land Reutilization Corporation (land bank) is complete, over 150 razed homes will no longer blight neighborhoods in East Toledo’s 43605 zip code, commonly referred to as the ’05 or “nickel.”

Earlier this year, the land bank was recently awarded a $6 million grant from the Ohio Housing Financing Agency, the second-highest total of 11 land banks statewide receiving a combined total $49.5 million to tackle blighted communities. That provides funding for a second round of home demolitions.

The land bank is a community improvement corporation designed to strengthen neighborhoods throughout the county by returning vacant and abandoned properties to productive use.

About 60 homes were demolished during the first wave, and a second wave already underway will bring, at last count, 96 more, says One Voice for East Toledo leader and East Toledo Family Center community builder Jodi Gross.

Oregon in the next two weeks will be negotiating to purchase a building on Navarre Avenue across from Pearson Park for a senior center.

The First Insurance Group Building at 4350 Navarre Avenue has up to 13,500 square feet. Approximately 6,500 square feet will be devoted for senior activities.

“We think it’s an excellent location for our seniors,” said City Administrator Mike Beazley. “It’s centrally located, it’s visible, it’s an attractive property, it’s in excellent condition, and it has the spacing and room size that will allow us to meet our senior needs.”

Members of the Senior Advisory Committee have been meeting every couple of weeks since April, 2014 to discuss and decide the best options for distributing revenue from a new 0.5 mill five year senior levy for Oregon seniors, which was passed last November.